Barnes & Noble unveils Nook HD

Mark Raby, 26th September 2012

Barnes & Noble wants your holiday tablet-buying dollars.
The book retailer that keeps on proving it can survive in the digital age has unveiled the latest in its Nook line of devices, the Nook HD.

Boasting high-resolution displays, there are two new editions of the Nook tablet family -- one with a 7-inch display and one with a 9-inch display. The latter is known as the Nook HD+.

The 7-inch model will be available for $199 while the 9-inch edition carries a retail price of $269. Both will be available at Barnes & Noble stores across the country as well as Target and Walmart.

They are set to launch in November, exactly one year after the original Nook Tablet was released.

Yesterday, B&N also announced a new Nook Video service which gives users access to streaming TV show and movie content. It will work like Amazon's video platform in which users will be able to watch purchased content seamlessly from any device connected to their Nook account.

As for technical specs, the Nook HD has a 1.5 GHz dual-core OMAP 447- processor, while the Nook HD+ carries a 1.3 GHz dual-core. Both have Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich installed. Interestingly, neither version has a camera.

So the holiday tablet race currently consists of the Nook HD and the Kindle Fire HD. There is still speculation that Apple could make an October surprise and announce an iPad Mini to go head-to-head with these new rivals.